They Don't Make Them Like This Anymore...

I live in an historic old rectory, which has many virtues. One of them is old door knobs. I had a closet that was simply not shutting, as the latch seemed to be stuck in the retracted position. It appeared to be a simple enough door knob with an old skeleton key locking mechanism. How hard could it be to fix, right?

 There is actually a large, rectangular hole chiseled into the door with this cast iron monstrosity mechanism inside:
The spring had broken and would not release the latching mechanism. I tried to jury rig it, but it is such a contraption that it still doesn't work well. Short of drilling a second door knob or replacing the door, I don't see there is much I can do. The casing around it won't really accommodate a bolt latch. 

Luckily, it is just a closet door. 



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